Family Life
by DiNozzoLover
Summary: After Ziva's death, Tony is left to struggle with his four children on his own, while still keeping his job.
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I don't own, i'm just playing with them. I promise they'll be in good condition when i'm finished :) All hail DPB. I only own original characters._

**Family Life  
Chapter 1**

It had been 3 years to the day since the death of his beautiful wife Ziva, and Tony DiNozzo was having trouble coping without her there. Tony was standing in the kitchen cooking breakfast thinking about Ziva when a noise behind him got his attention.

He turned around to see his son and his youngest daughter wrestling in the living room, they did that a fair bit, and LJ nearly always beat Sarah.

LJ and Sarah were Tony's and Ziva's two youngest children. They had had four all together, but Ziva had died when there youngest was just one year old. Tony found them such a handful, but he loved them with all his heart.

LJ and Sarah both looked a lot like both their parents. Both with brown hair, but LJ's more darker like Ziva's then lighter like Tony's like Sarah's was. LJ though had Tony's bright green eyes, and Sarah had Ziva's dark brown one's. They were like opposites.

_Ziva and Tony had decided to name their only son after Leroy Jethro Gibbs, there boss at work who was like a father to the both of them, but neither of them would do something as unfortunate to their only son and call him 'Leroy Jethro', and so they had decided on Lucas James, which could then be shortened to LJ, or occasionally Lucas or Luke. Sarah was the last born and the two of them together had decided to call her Sarah, meaning 'princess' in Hebrew. Tali also helped in the choice of this name, saying that she looked just like a princess. _Their_ princess._

"Be careful LJ, she's not as big as you yet." Tony says to his only son.

"I'm always careful Dad" replied LJ innocently with a big grin on his face, reminding Tony too much of himself. "Yeah right" Tony mumbled to himself and continued cooking breakfast

The wrestling started to get out of hand and without turning around Tony warned his son,

"LJ, if you hit her you'll be grounded for a week." said Tony very seriously

LJ was shocked because he was about to punch his sister when his father spoke without even looking at the two of them.

He then decided to go against his father's word because he didn't believe Tony would be able to prove he actually punched Sarah.

But exactly when LJ hit her Tony turned around to look at his two youngest children and witnessed the punch. Sarah then cried out in pain and ran to her father who picked her up and she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"LUCASE JAMES DINOZZO!" yelled Tony as LJ quickly ran out of the room, "COME BACK HERE NOW!"

"It's alright baby, you'll be okay..." Tony added quietly to Sarah, as he continued to hold her as she cried, as LJ walked guiltily back into the room.

"DIDN'T I JUST TELL YOU NOT TO HIT HER?!" yelled Tony very angrily.

"Whatever." replied LJ, rolling his eyes at his father.

"I DON'T LIKE YOUR ATTITUDE!" yelled Tony

"WELL I DON'T LIKE YOU!" replied LJ just as angrily

LJ turned around and hurried up the stairs, bashing past two girls who were coming down to see what was going on, and why there was so much yelling.

Tony yelled out "WELL YOU'RE GROUNDED!" as a bedroom door upstairs was heard slamming shut.

Tony kissed Sarah on her forehead, and placed her down on the kitchen counter. "Are you okay princess?" he asked her. She nodded yes, and he kissed her on the forehead again.

He then turned around looking at the breakfast which was now burnt to nothing, deciding toast was now a better choice then bacon and eggs.

The two young girls who were walking down the stairs were now in the living room, both of them curious and confused about what had just happened.

The two girls looked very similar in age, but you could tell there was at least a year between the two.

One looked incredibly like Tony, brown hair with bright green eyes; the other looked exactly like Ziva, darker hair with dark brown eyes. The elder of the two was Melanie.

_Ziva and Tony had decided an English name for her, but when there second daughter was born, she just looked too much like Ziva, and she had asked him if they could call her Tali, after her sister who died when she was young. He had instantly agreed with her._

* * *

The older of the girls then asked, "What happened, Dad?" 

"Don't worry 'bout it Mel, he's being juvenile again" Tony answered his eldest daughter, Melanie.

"Well he is only ten." said Melanie bluntly.

"Yes he is, but that doesn't give him the right to punch your sister!" said Tony getting frustrated again, and had stopped preparing breakfast.

"Dad?" asked the other girl, not knowing whether he was serious or not.

"Yeah he hit her. Tali, can you make sure Sarah's okay please?" Tony asked his second daughter, while he picked up his youngest and passed her to Tali.

"Sure." She answered with a smile, while taking her youngest sister and she walked into the living room. Tony then continued making breakfast again.

"So what happened?" asked Melanie.

Tony paused before answering her question. "They were wrestling again, and they were getting rough. I warned him but he took it too far." He finally answered.

There was a short silence, Mel not knowing whether to say something, finally she decided to.

"I know he shouldn't of hit her Dad, but…" she started

"BUT?! There is no 'but' here Melanie! He just shouldn't have hit her! That's it!" snapped Tony, interrupting her.

"Look, you don't need to get angry at me. I know what day it is too!" she said looking slightly hurt. Tony only ever called her Melanie when he was angry with her, every other time he called her Mel.

There was another long silence before Tony finally spoke.

"I'm sorry. I just miss her." Tony said quietly, not looking at his daughter, as he was embarrassed at his outburst towards her.

"I know. I do too." said Mel, as she jumped down off the counter, wrapping her arm around her father's shoulders. "Need help with breakfast?" she asked.

"Nah, its fine, but you can go and get your brother if you like? I don't want to speak to him" answered Tony. He knew he was being childish by not talking to his son, but he didn't care right now.

"Okay" said Mel, as she walked out of the kitchen

"Oh and Mel…"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you" said Tony with a weak smile

"Anytime" she said, and then walked upstairs to find her jerk of a brother. He was only ten, and she was only fifteen, but he just seemed so immature sometimes.

* * *

When she reached his bedroom door she knocked, being unsure to find what mood he was in. 

"What?!" he barked as he opened his door just enough to see his eldest sister standing there

"Breakfast's ready" answered Melanie

"I'm not hungry." LJ replied, going to close his door, but Melanie had put her hand on it pushing it open. She was surprisingly strong, so he couldn't close it.

"What do you want?" asked LJ, who opened to the door to her and walked back into his room where he flopped down onto his bed.

"Just to see how you're doing… and to ask you why you hit her?" answered Melanie cautiously.

"To see what he'd do." LJ answered simply.

"So you were trying to provoke him?!" she asked in astonishment. "Nice work jackass! You do know what day it is, don't you?"

"Yeah, it's Saturday." He answered, thinking it sounded like a pretty stupid question seeing as they weren't at school.

"It's the anniversary of Mum's death!" she said disbelievingly in a slightly more annoyed tone. _How could he have forgotten?_ She thought to herself.

"Oh. Yeah." He mumbled quietly, not believing he had forgotten.

* * *

Meanwhile, downstairs Tony, Tali, and Sarah were sitting at the dining table eating their breakfast, when Tony's phone rang. 

"DiNozzo" he answered it, listening to the voice on the other end of the line. "Boss it's Saturday!" he complained but quickly stopped as he continued listening to Gibbs. "Yeah I'll be right in." he said hanging up.

"You got to work Dad?" asked Tali, disappointed.

"Yeah sweetie, I do. Sorry, I know we were going to hang out, but you can come to work with me if you want?" he answered her apologetically.

"Well I've got nothing better to do" she agreed.

"How about you?" he asked Sarah, who was already shaking her head no. "Oh why not?" he asked pretending to look hurt.

"It's too boring Daddy" she answered, pouting at her father.

"That is it princess. You can stay here with Mel, if she will stay with you." He smiled at her.

"Mel!! LJ!!" Tony called out to the two of them who were still upstairs talking.

Mel slowly came down the stairs but LJ was not following her down. He was still up in his room.

"Yeah Dad?" she asked

"I just got called into work, Tali's going to come with me, but Sarah doesn't want to. Will you stay here with her?" he asked

"Yeah, sure thing." She nodded.

"Thanks sweetie. Well then LJ's coming with me" said Tony walking up the stairs to his son's room. He walked in without knocking, "You're coming with me to work." He said simply

"Why?!" asked LJ, obviously not happy with this decision, because it meant spending more time with his father.

"LJ, don't argue with me! Sarah and Mel are staying here, so you can come with me. Got it?!"

"Whatever" said LJ, getting up off his bed getting putting his shoes on, and grabbing his iPod.

"Thank you." said Tony, walking downstairs to find Tali waiting for him and Mel and Sarah who were doing a jigsaw.

* * *

"Well Mel, you know all the rules. And lock the door." He said to her. She nodded, knowing all of this already. "And you know where my spare sig is?" He whispered in her ear like it was a secret, even though Tali could hear them. 

Mel was trying not to laugh at her dork of a father, but she nodded yes. LJ then slowly grudged down the stairs and grabbed his jacket.

"Bye girls," Tony said to Mel and Sarah kissing them each on the forehead, before heading outside to the car, stopping just before he got in.

"Be good." He called back to his daughters.

"Oh we will. Bye." said Mel smirking.


	2. Chapter 2

_I do not own. Just a short chapter, sorry guys. Please R&R._

**Chapter 2**

The car trip to NCIS was tense and uncomfortable. No one said anything except for Tali's feeble attempts at conversation, where her brother ignored her and her father replied only with short answers, apparently too interested in the road. Tali eventually gave up and went to glaring at her brother and father every so often.

25 minutes after Gibbs' phone call they arrived at NCIS. Tony knew that it had taken them a long time, it normally did for him with four children, but even half an hour was long for him. The thought of this made him realise he'd be in trouble from Gibbs and this made his mood decrease, if it was even possible.

LJ continued to frustrate him and disobey him at every opportunity. Tony had just parked the car and Tali and he had gotten out of the car, when he realised LJ hadn't moved a muscle.

"Hey" Tony said to his son trying to be light-hearted, "You coming or what?"

LJ continued to ignore him and just sat in the car, looking anywhere but at Tony.

"Get out of the car." Tony said, leaning inside the car, with anger in his voice.

LJ again ignored his father, knowing this was annoying him. He looked straight into his father face and they glared into each others eyes. It seemed to go on forever, and Tali was getting impatient, when Tony finally broke the silence.

"Fine. Stay here all day in the sun" he said closing the door, and he and Tali started to walk towards the NCIS building, not looking back at LJ.

They hadn't gone very far when they heard a car door slam behind them. Tony then turned around to see LJ hurrying to catch up with them.

"I thought so." Tony mumbled to himself smirking; he had won that one.

* * *

The atmosphere in the elevator ride upstairs was tense. Tali felt extremely uncomfortable, not to mention upset at her father and brother's bickering. As soon as the elevator started she couldn't wait for it to stop, even though it was a short ride.

_Please don't fight again. Not today of all day's. Especially here. Please._ She thought to herself, but her thoughts were interrupted by Tony's voice.

"LJ, please don't cause any trouble today, and can we not fight here at work?" Tony asked his son, trying not to sound angry.

LJ just grunted and rolled his eyes at his father's question.

"Are you listening to me? Don't pick a fight with me at work." Tony repeated, raising his voice a little, trying his best to stay calm.

"I heard you the first time!" LJ retorted, raising his voice, but he didn't care.

_Here we go again. _Tali thought to herself, seeing her brother and her father turn to glare at each other, and if looks could kill, they would have both been pierced by each others gaze.

"Then why don't you answer me?" Tony asked, slightly raising his voice, despite his efforts to stay calm.

LJ was about to speak, ready to retaliate as the elevator doors dinged open. It didn't bother him fighting with his father in front of his co-workers, especially if it caused his father embarrassment. LJ didn't know why he was doing this to his father, putting him through this. He just supposed it was his way of dealing with his mother's death but he knew it wasn't fair on Tony.

* * *

Meanwhile in the bullpen, the team was waiting for Tony to arrive before heading off to the crime scene so McGee was looking for anyone linked to the victim, Gibbs was sitting at his desk drinking his coffee, and Parkes was calling Ducky to get him on the scene. Special Agent Lydia Parkes was the agent assigned to Gibbs' team after Ziva had died. She was young and ambitious, with long brown hair and bright blue eyes, a 'total hottie' according to McGee, but a 'typical probie' according to Tony. He had never gotten along with her. It wasn't that he didn't like her as such, but he only ever saw her as Ziva's replacement, and in his eyes no one could replace Ziva. Tony knew she wasn't there trying to make the team forget Ziva, she had never even met her, but Tony couldn't help but feel resentment towards the girl, as unfair as he knew it was.

Gibbs was starting to worry about Tony, glancing at the time every minute or so. He knew it always took Tony a bit longer to get to work because of having kids but half an hour was a long time for even Tony to be late after being called in.

He was considering whether or not calling his senior field agent, when he heard the elevator doors ding open. He stood up quickly hoping to see Tony arriving at work, and that's what he saw, but he would have rather have not seen Tony then see the scene that was in front of him.

A fully grown man and a 10 year old boy having a very heated argument about who-knows-what, and a 14 year old girl upset and confused as to what to do. Gibbs knew it was never a good thing when father and son fought.

"Why should I listen to you?!" LJ said to his father, now yelling, as the both of them stepped off the elevator before the doors closed again.

Tali had run straight off the elevator, dumped her backpack on the ground next to Tony's desk and quickly ran upstairs to the Director's office. Gibbs caught a glimpse of her face and was shocked to see she had tears streaming down her cheeks.

He couldn't help but feel sorry for her. He had only met her and her siblings few times because Tony and Ziva had always insisted keeping there personal life personal and to not get it mixed up with their work life, and Tony had kept this up after his wife had died. Gibbs had only met the kids a few times at the most, and the last time he had seen them was Ziva's funeral, which had been 3 years ago. Parkes had only met Sarah, and it had been only once.

Gibbs' attention was brought back to what was going on in front of him and he heard Tony's voice.

"Because I'm your father that's why!" Tony answered simply, raising his voice but still not yelling at his son

"Oh yeah, some great father!!" LJ said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

"This whole thing started because you didn't listen! Why can't you just do what I say and not question me every single time?!" Tony replied frustrated, and now yelling.

"It's your fault that Mum died! Why couldn't it have been you instead!! She was a better parent then you'll ever be!!" LJ yelled ferociously, totally ignoring his question.

"I wish it was me and not her who had died! I'm trying the best I can and you don't make it easy!" Tony yelled back at him.

"Whatever." LJ said to his father with an attitude, stepping back into the elevator.

"Where do you think you're going?" Tony asked, still angry with his son.

"Abby." LJ said simply as the elevator doors closed.

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_All reviews are welcome. They're like christmas presents  
Next chapter coming up soon._


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Okay, first off, I am so so so so sorry for the delay in updating! I seemed to lose my muse at some point, but it has returned and I've actually started writing this again. And I know this chapter is really short, but I wanted to give you and update, as I've neglected all my fics. So here it is, hope you enjoy :)  
Please R&R :)**

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Tony then stormed into the bullpen, throwing his bag on the floor next to his daughters, pushing his chair away from his computer with such force that it spun around and slammed into the filing cabinet behind it, before he slumped into it and turned his computer on, looking up at the screen.

The whole team just stared at Tony is disbelief. What had just happened in front of them left them in shock. Gibbs had never suspected anything was wrong with Tony, and McGee was wondering why Tony hadn't told him about it. They had become good friends since Ziva had died, and he was the only one in the team, except maybe Abby, who had actually spent time with Tony's kids outside work.

"DiNozzo…" Gibbs started

"Oh hey boss" said Tony rather differently, not acting like his normal self, as looked up at from his computer like he had just noticed they were there, giving him a huge grin, that Gibbs could see straight through.

"What was that about?"

"Oh nothing. Home stuff." Tony said dropping Gibbs' gaze, looking back down at his computer.

"Didn't sound like nothing..."

"You really want to know?" asked Tony mockingly, rising from his chair walking towards Gibbs. He face was unreadable, and Tony definitely wasn't acting himself. When he was really, truly angry, he was scary.

"Yeah DiNozzo, I do" said Gibbs, standing from his chair meeting his younger agents eyes.

"Well then I'll tell you" began Tony, "My family is falling apart… and all my kids hate me. Okay? Feel better now you know that?"

"Tony, I'm sure it's not…" Gibbs began to say but Tony cut him off. He was trying his best to be friendly towards his senior field agent, but it just made him seem so strange.

"It's not what Gibbs? It's not that bad? Well it is. One of them wants me dead as I'm sure you just heard, another is nearly depressed and I'm sure you just saw that too, another one thinks I'm failing the family and not keeping us together, and the other one is almost getting abused everyday!" Tony was now yelling at this point, and McGee was looking at him in fear, like he was about to start trashing the place, but also with admiration. I mean, who would stand up to Gibbs like that?

Gibbs just stood there, speechless for probably the first time ever. To him, Tony looked like he was about to explode, and he knew he needed to calm him down, but didn't know how.

He was saved by the ringing of his cell phone, and he answered it, never dropping his gaze from Tony. "Gibbs."

Tony could hear Ducky's voice on the other end of the line, and remembered why he had been called into work in the first place.

He walked back over to his desk and slumped back in chair when Tali came walking back down the stairs. It was obvious she had been crying, and when Tony noticed her he jumped and began to walk towards her. However she dodged around him, picked up her bag, and turned to walk back up to Jen's office rather quickly. It was obvious she was embarrassed and uncomfortable.

"Tali..." Tony began, but it was useless. She was already half-way up the stairs before he had even begun talking.

Tony just stood, rooted the spot, staring in disbelief after his second child.

"C'mon Tony..." McGee began and Tony felt him place a hand on his shoulder.

Tony glanced around, noticing Gibbs and Parkes waiting at the elevator for McGee and Tony to join them. Tony was surprised to see Gibbs looking so… understanding. It was an odd look for the man, and Tony had only seen it on a few occasions. Tony lifted his eyes to McGee's face and realised that they really had to get to the crime scene.

"Yeah… okay. Let's go." Tony said, quickly picking up his pack and rushing towards the elevator.

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Please don't forget to Read & Review. It seems to help my muse, and I tend to write more and more frequently. READ & REVIEW! :)**


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